Scavengers
by TheYmp
Summary: E/O Challenge: Scavenge. Drabbles about making the best of a bad situation. #1: There's nothing to eat in Purgatory #2: Every family needs a pet. #3: Dean turns to desperate measures. Warning: disturbing themes.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters - these were created by Eric Kripke - I'm just borrowing them. I'm not making any commercial gain. No harm or infringement intended.**

**E/O Challenge: Scavenge. Drabbles about making the best of a bad situation. #1: There's nothing to eat in Purgatory #2: Every family needs a pet. #3: Dean turns to desperate measures. Warning: disturbing themes.**

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**Scavengers**

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**A/N: **_**There's nothing to eat in Purgatory.**_** Set post-season 7. 100 words.**

**Finding Food**

Castiel doesn't need to eat, but Dean does. It's difficult to scavenge for sustenance when nothing's edible. There's no native fauna, not counting once-human monsters. The only flora's the weird trees Dean's been reduced to chewing the bark off. Castiel knows Dean won't survive much longer...

Dean woke to the smell of cooking.

"Here, eat this," Castiel ordered, crouched over a campfire.

Dean devoured the hunk of blackened meat without even thinking about it.

"What was it?" he asked at last, still salivating. "Tasted like pork?"

An agonized, guilty look flashed across Castiel's face. "Yes, it's... long pig," he replied.

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**A/N: **_**Every family needs a pet.**_** Set pre-series. 250 words.**

**Finding Family**

_**"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." – St. Francis of Assisi**_

The first time Sam saw the dog it was scavenging in the garbage. John threw a beer can and it scooted off into the night.

The next day it trotted past their room on three good legs, the fourth held up.

"Mangy cur," complained John, "it'd probably rip your throat out rather than look at you."

The dog cast an offended glance in their direction.

Sam called him over anyway, pulled a thorn from his paw, and fed him scraps. The dog had no collar, so Sam named him "Hunter", ignoring his brother's eye-roll. Dean would never admit it, but Sam suspected his brother was scared of dogs from one too many bad experiences at break-ins.

The next evening, Sam returned with take-out to discover that John had decked three men who thought it would be fun to torture Hunter for kicks.

"I just don't understand people," John complained to the dog, motioning for Hunter to join him on the sofa. Sam hid his smile and pretended not to see his father share his pizza with the animal.

A week passed and their case had finished, so it was time to move on.

Dean scowled at the newest member of the Winchester family. "Listen mutt, I'm not having you making a mess in my Baby, okay?"

John paused as he opened the door of his truck. "What makes you think my dog wants to ride with you anyway?" he laughed, as Hunter jumped in and sat on the passenger seat.

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**A/N: **_**Dean turns to desperate measures.**_** Set pre-series. Teen-Winchesters. 300 words.**

**Desperate Times**

Their dad was way past due to be back from the hunt. They had counted beyond the time milestones of hours, then days, then weeks later than expected. It would be another month before they'd be reunited with a father that, unknown to them, lay hurt, comatose and unidentified in a hospital bed.

The little money they'd been left with had long gone and Dean had even tried dumpster diving to scavenge enough to feed himself and Sam. The women who stood on the corner outside the motel had helped keep an eye on them, but they had their own mouths to feed.

Sam watched as Dean talked to one of the women. She frowned, seeming furious at first, but then she looked over at Sam and her expression softened. Sam waited, with all the patience an eleven year old could muster, while the woman spoke to Dean at great length about something, although Sam couldn't make out the words. At last she gave his brother a sad smile as she passed Dean a handful of items that Sam couldn't identify.

Dean walked back over to Sam with a nervous, jittery smile and told him to go wait in their room. "Hold this for me," Dean added as an afterthought, passing Sam his amulet.

A couple of hours went by and at last Dean shuffled in bearing a bag of groceries with a broad grin of triumph. Even in the excitement, Sam noticed the changes in his brother; the bruise along one cheek and the new hardness around his eyes.

Sam woke later that night to the muffled sound of Dean sobbing into his pillow.

Sam reached out, stroking a comforting hand down Dean's shaking shoulders. "Thank you," he whispered as he placed the amulet back around his brother's neck.

(;,;)


End file.
